antihelion source (2009)

 

 

 

Antihelion Source proposes in the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans a kind of interference with the symmetry and the centralised organisation of the space and architecture. About 40 mirrors with hidden loudspeakers are fixed on the south quarter of the semi-circular wall. Their orientation follows the curve of the wall, so the common geometrical vanishing point of their reflexions is located in the panopticon oculus of the director’s house, in the middle of the saltworks.

The Antihelion Source is a moving nocturnal sky zone at the opposite of the sun where a few meteors seem to appear at a slow rate, all year long. Each one can make a visible mark in the sky or a small sound which can be heard through a radio receiver. Two recordings have been done for this installation and then other sounds have been substituted to the original echos, while keeping the rhythm of their apparitions. The resulting soundtrack uses four asynchronous and palindromic tracks, which are resounding through the mirrors and can be heard in the southern part of the hemicycle.